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Book <LLfa 



68d Congress. 
§d Session. 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



Report 

No. 246. 



HOG CHOLERA. 



February 11, 1914. — < oinmitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the state 
of the Union and ordered to be printed. 



Mi 



Lever, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the 
following 

REPORT. 

[To accompany S. 3439.] 

ALSO VIEWS OF MR. HAUGEN. 

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (S. 
3439) appropriating funds for the purpose of the investigation, 
treatment, and eradication of hog cholera, having considered the 
same, report thereon with a recommendation that, with amend- 
ments as will be hereinafter shown, it do pass. 

The bill as reported from the committee carries an appropriation 
of $000,000 to become available upon the passage of the bill. Five 
hundred thousand dollars of this amount is to be used in the investi- 
gation, treatment, an eradication of hog cholera under the direction 
of the Secretary of Agriculture. The remaining $100,000, or so much 
thereof as may be necessary in the opinion of the Secretary of Agri- 
culture, is to be used in the investigation, treatment, and eradication 
of dourine. The committee regards both propositions as being of 
very great importance. With respect to the first — the appropriation 
of $500,000 for the investigation and eradication of the disease 
known as hog cholera — the committee believes that the appropriation 
recommended for this purpose is justified by the magnitude and im- 
portance of the undertaking, and that immediate action is required 
on account of the emergency character of the situation. 

The committee calls attention to the fact that the meat of the hog 
is largely the basis of the every-day meal of the average citizen, and 
is more generally used by all classes of people than any other meat. 
Reef and mutton are important in the meat supply of the Nation, but 
pork — hog meat — is absolutely essential to the average family. The 
proposition presented by this bill involves in a large way the meat 
supply of the people of the country. Hog production must increase 
or the amount (if hog meat consumption must decrease. Statistics 



HOG CHOLERA. 






show a constant decrease in the number of hogs in the country with 
as certainly a constant increase in the number of consumers of hog 
meat, together with a steadily increasing value of the hogs. In 1913 
the Department of Agriculture estimates that there wero 61,178,000 
hogs in the country. 

in 1914 the same source of information shows there were only 
58,933,000, or a decrease of 2,245,000, hcgs, although the value of the 
hog crop for 1914 was $612,951,000, as against $603,109,000 for 1913, 
or a difference in value of $9,842,000, notwithstanding the decrease 
of 2.245,000 in number. The total number of hogs in the country 
have decreased, therefore, but the total value of the hogs in the 
country has increased. With increasing values and increasing de- 
mands, as shown in increasing population, it would be expected that 
the statistics would show an increasing number of hogs from time to 
time in keeping with usual economic laws. This, however, is not the 
case in this instance, and the committee feels that this reversal of a 
well-known economic law is due to the presence and menace in the 
country of the disease commonly known as hog cholera. It is safe 
to assume that 90 per cent of the difference in the number of hogs in 
the country in 1913, as compared with 1914, was due to losses trace- 
able to hf g cholera. This in itself represents a tremendous burden 
upon the meat producing and consuming public, and yet it does not 
represent the entire burden because the actual physical loss does not 
represent the real burden, which must be calculated upon a basis of 
what the number would have been under other and normal condi- 
ti ns. It is natural to expect that an increasing price of h°gs would 
induce the farmer to raise more of them, and he would except for the 
fear of same danger, and this danger, it is well known, is the hog 
cholera plague. 

The committee believes that a disease which places an annual 
toll of $70,000,000, as estimated by the Department of Agriculture, 
upon the principal meat-producing animal of the country, presents 
a problem which is national in its scope. The losses entailed by 
hog cholera are of interest both to producer and consumer. The 
city man can no more escape the burden of this scourge than can 
the country man. All interests are concerned most directly and 
vitally. This matter became so ' pressingly acute that upon the 
initiative of the Agricultural Committee of the House in the Sixty- 
second Congress there was authorized an expenditure of $75,000 for 
"Demonstrating the best method of preventing and eradicating 
hog cholera." With this appropriation work has been carried for- 
ward in four distinct areas in the great hog-producing belts of the 
country — Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, and Nebraska — and although the 
appropriation was not available until the 1st of July, and the disease 
of hog cholera was already widespread, in the selected experimental 
areas, the results from the experiments indicate the strong possi- 
bility of ultimate eradication of the disease in these areas. Certainly 
the results show that the losses in these areas from hog cholera were 
reduced remarkably in all cases, notwithstanding the fact that work 
in these areas began in midsummer after a large percentage of the 
loss for the year had already occurred. The facts as presented by 
Dr. M. Dorset, in charge of this work in the Department of Agricul- 
ture, before your committee indicate possibilities which neither your 

;. 0J S3. 

FEB ft? J214 



HOG CHOLERA. 3 

committee nor the House can overlook and are in substance as fol- 
\" lows : 

Dr. Dorset. I have some figures made up from the results oi the work this summer. 
Of hogs actually pick we lost 25 per cent. Of well hogs in diseased herds 2.8 per 
cent died, and of hogs in exposed herds only about 0.7 per cent died. . In an infected 
herd there are always a certain proportion of hogs that are well when the inspector' 
gets there. The inspectors examine the hogs and take the temperature of all hogs in 
the herd, and thus separate the sick from the well. 

First, Dallas County, Iowa: In 1911 they raised 77,274 hogs; they lost 11,337; per- 
centage of loss, 12.7. 

In 1912 Dallas County raised 84,618 hogs and lost 19,821; percentage of loss, 18.9. 

In 1913 Dallas County raised 118,550 hogs and lost 9,182; percentage of loss, 7.1. 
Now, with regard to the losses in Dallas County in 1913, 5,289 out of 9,182 died before 
the 1st of July, before our men went therr> at all, whereas 3,893 have died since the 
1st of July. 

In Pettis County, Mo., there were raised in 1911 62,590 hogs; lost, 13,740; percentage 
of loss. 18. 

In 1912 they raised 59,601 and lost 20,550; percentage of loss. 25.6. 

In 1913 they raised 59,792 and lost 10,376: per cent of loss, 14.7. 

Now, again, in Pettis County, of the 10,376 hogs that died in 1913, 9,035 died before 
the 1st of July. Our inspector did not go into that county until the 1st of August. 
I think a loss of only 1,341 hogs since the 1st of July in that county is a very gratifying 
showing, lor there is every indication that that county would have lost at least three 
times as many hogs as it did if our men had not gone in there. 

Mr. Sloan. Are those later months bad months in that respect? 

Dr. Dorset. After the 1st of July is when most of the hogs are lost. 

Mr. Sloan. Is it not the fact, too, that the losses from hog cholera this year have been 
nearly twice what they have been heretofore — or a great deal larger, at least? 

Dr. Dorset. No; it is not my judgment that hog cholera is worse this year than ever 
before. I think we merely hear more of it; the farmer reports it; he has learned there 
is something which will prevent it. 

Now, as to Montgomery County, Ind.: Hogs raised in 1911, 73,920; losses, 20,414; 
per cent of loss, 21.6. In 1912, hogs raised, 74,554; losses, 23,983; per cent of loss, 
24.3. In 1913, hogs raised, 75,974; lost, 5,098; per cent of loss, 6.2. 

In every county we find that in 1913 there has been less loss from hog cholera than in 
either of the two years preceding. We also find that in some of the counties where the 
losses were the largest in 1913 most of the loss occurred before our men went into the 
county. 

I have figures showing exactly the results in the case of herds that were treated. 
These losses that I have reported here are of all hogs that died in the county. When 
our inspectors went in Montgomery County the 1st of July there were 65 outbreaks in 
the county. In order to carry out the plan we had mapped out, to treat the sick herds 
and inoculate herds surrounding, we would have had to treat immediately after the 1st 
of July not less than 300 herds in that one county. We had not the hog cho'era serum 
to do that; we had only a little experimental plant, and that plant had to be enlarged 
after the 1st of July, so that the disease was getting along and a good many hogs were 
loBt in herds that it was not possible for us to treat. 

These results incline the committee to the belief that hog cholera 
can be reduced, controlled, and substantially eradicated from the 
country by a reasonable expenditure of money during a reasonable 
period of time. And with this belief in mind the committee does not 
hesitate to recommend this appropriation, which it believes will 
develop into a profitable investment rather than a mere expenditure 
of pubiic money. However, the committee is convinced that the 
very bigness of the undertaking will necessitate the vigorous joint 
action of Federal, State, and local agencies to deal with it effectively. 
The problem is so large that neither Federal nor State authority alone 
can handle it. It requires joint and united effort of these agencies, 
one of the large factors being the education of the people and the 
demonstration to them of the value of the serum and virus. The 
Federal Government, however, on account of the interstate traffic in 
hogs and hog products, is most intimately interested and has a most 



4 HOG CHOLERA. 

clear duty iu the premises. The directing- influence of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture in this problem, which involves all the States, is 
essential if a nation-wide plan of hog-cholera eradication is to be 
undertaken successfully. The committee recommends this appro- 
priation as an emergency appropriation to provide for dealing with a 
situation for the time being. We realize, however, that some com- 
prehensive machinery must be provided which will stimulate coopera- 
tive Federal and State action m the solution of this question, and it 
is the intention of the committee to propose such a measure during 
this session of Congress. 

The committee urges the adoption of this bill as amended without 
delay, in order that the department may proceed at once to the per- 
fection of an organization to meet the situation as it will arise in the 
early summer, for a greater amount of good can be done in this work 
if the appropriation is made now than if made later in the year, for 
hog cholera begins its ravages in the early summer. 

The committee submits a table showing the estimated number of 
hogs lost from cholera by States and commends it to the earnest 
attention of the House. 

Estimated number of hogs lost from cholera — Average price per head Jan. 1, 1913 — Total 

monetary loss to each State. 



State arid division. 


Estimated 
loss of hogs 
from <-h ilri i 
for year end- 
ing Jan. 1, 
1913. 


Average 

prices per 

head Jan. 1, 

1913. 


Monetary Ins 
toieai ); 




2,545 
1,170 
1,829 
4,140 
315 
1,566 

20.547 
5,760 

43,731 


$12. 90 
12.70 
12.20 
13.00 
14.50 
14.00 
12.60 
13.00 
12.50 


$32, 830 




14,859 




22,313 




53, 820 




4,567 




21,924 




258, 892 




74, 880 




546.637 








81,403 




1.030,722 










2,610 

27, 135 
36,115 
23, 389 
69, 687 
51,637 
280, 368 
134,334 


11.20 
9.80 
7.00 
9.00 
7.70 
8.50 
7.10 
5.90 


29, 232 




265, 923 




252, 805 




810,901 




536,589 




138,91 i 




1,990.612 




792, 570 








625, 275 




4,517,146 








Ohio.. ' 


263, 082 

500,715 

543,690 

47,268 

51,156 


10. 80 
9.80 
10.50 
10.80 
11.60 


2,841,285 




4,907J i<7 




5,708,743 




510, 194 




593,409 








1,405,911 




14,560,940 










84,249 

1,255,680 

643, 702 

6, 588 

40,:«K) 

37,600 

281.988 


12.70 
12.00 
8. 50 
13. 70 
11.00 
LI. 40 
10.40 


1,069,962 




15,668,160 




5,471,407 




90,255 








428,610 




2;»32,67S 








2, 350, 197 




25,505,449 









HOG CHOLERA. 



Estimated number of hogs lotl/rom cholera — Average price per head Jan. J, 1913- 
monetary loss to each State— Continued. 



■Total 





Estimated 
loss of ho.es 
frorii : 

u end- 
inu Jan. I . 
I'll:;. 


Avrs 

pi ires ixt 

head Tan. 1, 

1913: 


Monetary lass 




110.0 59 
133. 204 
144 144 
205,405 
139,788 
100,96(6 
96, 592 
220, 176 


$7.10 
7.40 
6.80 
6.90 
7.00 
8.40 
8.90 
6.70 


$994,347 




985, ?09 

080, 179 

1,417,294 

678,516 


Texas 


SIS. 114 




859, 068 
1,475.179 








1,180,324 




8, 539, 006 






Montana 


2,754 

18, 450 

1,263 

209 

1,749 

604 

7 ?58 

5.108 

7.236 

36. 990 


11.90 
11.00 
11.00 
!l. 00 
11. 50 
11.00 
11.00 
10. 30 
11.30 
9.50 
9.20 


32.772 
6.083 




202.9.-0 
12.124 






Utah 


19,239 




6. 044 




7'OMV; 


Washington 


57,720 
68,742 




340.308 








82.734 




829, 582 








Total for United States 


5,730,844 




54.9S2.S25 









The committee calls especial attention to the proviso of the bill 
which gives authority to examine and inspect establishments prepar- 
ing hog-cholera serum and other viruses. This provision enables 
the department to put into every plant manufacturing serum and 
virus for interstate shipment its inspectors, who will be empowered 
to prevent the interstate shipment of such serums and viruses until 
convinced that their manufacture is made under such conditions as 
will guarantee potency and effectiveness. This proviso is especially 
important because it will enable the Government to prevent the 
interstate shipment and sale of fraudulent and worthless serums and 
viruses, which in themselves are not only a fraud upon the buyer of 
them but may be a means of disseminating the disease. The regula- 
tion of the sale of serum and virus is most important in the plan of 
eradication, and this proviso gives a very substantial control in this 
regard. 

The committee calls attention to the proviso which permits the 
Secretary of Agriculture to expend $100,000 for "the investigation, 
treatment, and eradication of dourine." Dourine is a disease which 
affects horses, and is "likened to syphilis in the human family; it is 
not the same disease; there is a pathological difference." This disease 
is prevalent in a number of the Northwestern States — Montana, the 
two Dakotas, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska — and it threatens 
the entire horse industry of the country and should be dealt with 
in the most vigorous manner. Every State is interested in the eradi- 
cation of this disease, for it may spread to any State at any time. 
About 10 per cent of the range horses are afflicted by this melody 
and these horses are sold, unless the disease should be detected, into 
every State. It is a very serious situation, as much so, it is the belief 



6 HOG CHOLERA. 

of the committee, as would be the outbreak of foot-and-mouth dis- 
ease among cattle, and this appropriation is most earnestly urged. 

The committee recommends the passage of the Senate bill with the 
following amendments: 

(a) Amend title by striking out the period after the word "cholera" 
and insert the words "and dourine." 

(b) On line 4, page 1, strike out the figure "5" and insert "6," so 
that it will read "$600,000" instead of "$500,000." 

(c) On line 8, page 1, after the word "cholera," strike out the 
colon and add the words "and dourine," and add a comma there- 
after, and the following language: "including the employment of 
assistants, clerks, and other persons, and the payment of all other 
necessary expenses, in the city of Washington and elsewhere." 

(d) On line 8, page 1, after the word "provided," strike out the 
comma and the word "however" and the comma. 

(e) On page 2, line 8, after the word "thereunder," strike out the 
period and insert a semicolon and add the following: li And provided 
further, That not more than $100,000 of the sum hereinbefore pro- 
vided shall be used for the investigation, treatment, and eradication 
of the disease known as dourine." 



VIEWS OF MR. HAUGEN. 

In view of the inadequate supply of potent antihog-cholera serum, 
the lack of facilities for the production of the serum, the urgent rec- 
ommendation made by Dr. Melvin, and Dr. Dorset, in charge of the 
work for better facilities, and the importance of the work, it would 
seem advisable to set aside a part of the proposed appropriation for 
the production, sale, and distribution of the serum. Attention is 
caller] to Dr. Melvin's statement, printed on page 27, Hearings 
before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, 
December 9 and 10: 

Dr. Melvin. Mr. Chairman, may I make a statement? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Dr. Melvin. Two bills have been introduced in the Senate for very large amounts 
on this work. Now, if any such sums as those are finally appropriated, it will be 
necessary for us to have very much larger laboratory facilities than we now have, 
because the small equipment we now have is only sufficient to take care of an appro- 
priation of this size. Then, of course, we shall have to increase the size of our serum 
plant in proportion to the amount of money that is finally appropriated for this work . 

Page 28: 

Mr. Howell. Is there not still some difference of opinion among those who know, 
or claim to know, about the efficacy of your treatment? 

Dr. Melvin. I do not think there is any doubt among those who know, Mr. Howell; 
it is on the part of those who do not know. [Laughter.] 

Mr. Howell. But there is more or less dispute about it, is there not? 

Dr. Melvin. I do not think there is. There are other organizations. For instance, 
Ohio has a very complete organization; they have a laboratory that they are just begin- 
ning to use, costing $100,000 to build. Next year they will handle a great part of the 
State — not all of it, because it would take, in my opinion, four or five such labora- 
tories to produce serum sufficient for the entire State of Ohio. Their experiences 
have been right along the line of ours — that where they made proper serum they could 
control the disease. 

Mr. Hawley. Do the State laboratories make a good serum? What is your expe- 
rience in regard to that? 

Dr. Melvin. We have only their data to go on. We have not used it ourselves, 
except in the case of Missouri, where we have used their serum very satisfactorily. 

Mr. Hawley. It is not difficult for a skilled operator to make, is it? 

Dr. Melvin. No; but a man must have training along that line; and he must know 
what proper sanitation is in order to make a serum that will not be infected from 
outside sources. 

Mr. Maguire. You are confident that this is an absolute preventive, are you? 

Dr. Melvin. Yes, sir; I am. 

Mr. Candler. You said a moment ago that you did not sell any; hence the State 
has to manufacture it itself in order to get it? 

Dr. Melvin. The State or private manufacturers. There are a good many private 
manufacturers. 

Mr. Candler. The United States does not manufacture enough to divide up even 
with the States? 

Mr. Haugen. How many States are manufacturing? 

Dr. Galloway. Thirty. 

Dr. Melvin. About 30. 

Page 30 : 

Mr. Haugen. Mr. Chairman, what 1 would like to get is a statement from Dr. 
Melvin, giving his opinion whether this appropriation should be increased, and it 
so, to what extent, in order to be used advantageously. 

7 



b HOG CHOLERA. 

Page 31 : 

Dr. Melvin. I think it would be highly advantageous to the country to have it. 
increased. 

Mr. Haugen. To what extent'? I think we all appreciate that you have more 
knowledge of this situation than probably any Member of Congress; and I would like 
to know about what you think as to the extent to which it could be carried out advan- 
tageously. 

Dr. Melvin. One idea I had in mind was that, if the department is expected to 
continue this work for any considerable time, an appropriation sufficient to put up a 
good up-to-date laboratory for the preparation of serum, and also for the further study 
of the disease, should be made. We have not learned all about the disease that we 
think may be learned; and, if we had a proper permanent equipment of this sort, it 
would be highly desirable. The equipment would cost at least $100,000. Then we 
would be prepared to take up work in a number of States — probably 20. This would 
require an outlay of probably $400,000 or $500,000. As it is, our original plant was a 
very small affair, put up of match boards. The floor space was not half the size of 
this room. To provide for this work we bought some of these portable tin houses, put 
them up,-*»d made them into laboratories. We are doing efficient work there, but 
there is noming permanent to it; and it is not even on our own ground, but on leased 
ground. We had to put up temporary buildings; and, if we are to continue in this 
work for ten or a dozen years, which seems probable, I think we should first start 
with a proper equipment and be prepared to show these manufacturers, and the Slate 
people as well, what, in our opinion, is a proper laboratory. 

Mr. Howell. If you had such a laboratory as that, your idea would not be to make 
serum enough to supply it for anything except your own work? 

Dr. Melvin. I do not think we would, no, sir; I do not think we could supply 
much outside of what we would need in the several States, because it is a tremendous 
proposition. 

Mr. Howell. You said ''in the several States." Do you mean for your own work 
in the several States? 

Dr. Melvin. Yes. 

Mr. Reilly. Dr. Melvin, are not several of the State universities and agricultural 
schools preparing to furnish serum for their own States? 

Dr. Melvin. Yes, sir; some of them. 

Mr. Reilly. Is it not probable that all of them, after this is demonstrated, will do 
that? 

Dr. Melvin. They will in a limited way, but I do not think they will be prepared 
so that all hog raisers can get it from them. 

Mr. Haugen. What amount would you suggest, then, for the next year's appropri- 
ation? 

Dr. Melvin. It is a big problem; it would take probably half a million dollars to 
do it properly, in an extended way. 

Mr. Taylor. Why could you not take $100,000 to perfect your plant, etc., and 
$75,000 to keep your men that you now have? Why would not that cover it? 

Dr. Melvin. That would hardly be in proportion. I think if we had a plant for 
$100,000, the other ought to be larger — a couple of hundred thousand dollars. 

Dr. Melvin, Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, who has prob- 
ably given the subject of eradicating hog cholera more thought and 
consideration than any other person, clearly points oat the necessity 
of the production of and providing for a supply of the serum, at least 
enough to supply the department in carrying mi its investigation and 
demonstration. He states that if the $75,000 appropriation is 
increased it will be necessary for the department to nave much 
greater laboratory facilities, because the little equipment which it 
now has is sufficient to take care of the $75,000 appropriation only: 
that its plant is very small, put up of matched boards, the floor space 
not half the size of the committee room; that portable tin houses 
were bought and made into laboratories: that tin* State of Ohio has 
recently erected a laboratory costing $100,000, and that hereafter the 
State will be able to handle a great part of that State, but not all, for 
in his opinion four or five such laboratories would be required to 
produce serum sufficient for the entire State. He states that the 



HOG CHOLERA. 9 

department has been compelled to purchase sorum for its own use 
and that an appropriation should be made sufficient to put up an 
up-to-date laboratory for the preparation of the serum. That with 
equipment coating at least $100,000 it would be prepared to take up 
work in probably 20 State-, or, in other words, in one county of' each 
of the 20 States, or 20 counties out of 2,500 counties in the United 
States, and that the proposed plan would require an outlay of prob- 
ably $400,000 or $500,000. Also, that if he had a plant for $100,000. 
he could use a couple of hundred thousand dollars. 
He further states, page 32 : 

Dr. Melvin. I do not think we ought to be expected to uae aerum except that 
which we feel fully satisfied is all right. 

Mr. Haugen. But you have a way of testing it, have you not? 

Dr. Melvin. Welt, it has to be tested in batches. 

Mr. Haugen. Yes. 

Dr. Melvin. And that requires a good deal of work. 

Mr. Haugen. Is it not safe to assume that the States will furnish a serum that is 
properly made? 

Dr. Melvin. Most of them would. I would be afraid to trust all of them. 

I take it that no m\e will question the authority. If so, and if it is 
the purpose of Congress to aid the unfortunate hog raiser in saving 
his cholera hog, and to ultimately eradicate hcg cholera, I take it 
that it will follow the advice of those with experience and expert 
knowledge in charge of the work. Dr. Melvin has made it plain that 
for every $300,000 appropriated for this purpose $100,000 should be 
appropriated for laboratory facilities. If his conclusions are well 
founded, Congress should set aside a couple of hundred thousand 
dollars for laboratory facilities out of the $500,000 carried in the 
proposed bill in order to enable the department to supply itself with 
the serum required. In support of Dr. Melvin's contention, I quote 
Dr. Dorset, wb in the bureau has placed in charge of the work. 

Page. 24: 

When our inspectors went in Montgomery County the 1st of July there were 65 out- 
breaks in the county. In order to carry out the plan we had mapped out, to treat 
the sick herds and inoculate herds surrounding, we would have had to treat imme- 
diately after the 1st of July not less than 300 herds in that one county. We had not 
the hog cholera serum to do that; we had only a little experimental plant, and that 
plant had to be enlarged after the 1st of July, so that the disease was getting along and 
a good many hogs were lost in herds that it was not possible for us to treat 

The Chairman. Where is your plant located? 

Dr. Dorset. We have a small plant near Ames, Iowa. It has been there for nearly 
10 years. 

Mr. Howell. Have you used only your own serum? 

Page 25: 

Dr. Dorset. No. We have used in Dallas and Montgomery Counties ■serum which we 
have made. In Missouri we have used a serum made by the University of Missouri, 
because we were unable to make enough serum to take care of Pettis County, as we 
found after the work was started . 

Mr. Howell. Do you know anything of the serum that is on the market, or have 
you used any? 

Dr. Dorset. Well, sir, I believe that the product on the market is variable in 
quality. Some of it is probably good and some of it is probably impotent. 

Mr. Maguire. It is all made from your formula, is it not? 

Dr. Dorset. It is supposed to be, but I do not think it always is. 

Also Dr. Dorset's statement as to its applicacy, page 23: 

The Chairman. Will you please tell the committee, Dr. Dorset,, what you have 
accomplished in the year's work? 



10 HOG CHOLERA. 

Dr. Dorset. Mr. Chairman, we have only been at work for five months, and I feel 
that the work is not finished; that we have simply been organizing the territory. 
However, I did have our men take some statistics in these counties, and they have 
recently sent in their figures. The figures for 1913 are estimates, because the year 
has not yet ended, of course. But I wanted to indicate to the committee what had 
been accomplished, if I could. Shall I read them, Mr. Chairman? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Dr. Dorset. First, Dallas County, Iowa: In 1911, they raised 77,274 hogs; they lost 
11,337; percentage of loss, 12.7. 

Mr. Hawley. And are you sure that every hog was lost by hog cholera? 

Page 24 : 

Dr. Dorset. No, sir; I am not sure. We have been obliged to take the total loss. 

Mr. Hawley. Presuming it was due to hog cholera? 

Dr. Dorset. Yes; we credited it all to hog cholera. In 1912, Dallas County raised 
84,618 hogs and lost 19,821; percentage of loss, 18.9. 

In 1913, that is this year, Dallas County raised 118,550 hogs and lost 9,182; percent- 
age of loss, 7.1. Now, with regard to the losses in Dallas County in 1913, 5,289 out of 
9,182 died before the 1st of July, before our men went there at all, whereas 3,893 have 
died since the 1st of July. 

In Pettis County, Mo., there were raised in 1911,62,590 hogs; lost, 13,740; percent- 
age of loss, 18. 
. In 1912, they raised 59,661 and lost 20,550; percentage of loss, 25. 

In 1913, they raised 59,792 and lost 10,376; per cent of loss, 14. 

Now, again, in Pettis County, of the 10,376 hogs that died in 1913, 9,035 died before 
the 1st of July. Our inspector did not go into that county until the 1st of August. I 
think a loss of only 1,341 hogs since the 1st of July in that county is a very gratifying 
showing, for there is every indication that that county would have lost at least three 
times as many hogs as it did if our men had not gone in there. 

If the testimony produced is to be accepted, if States or private 
concerns are not producing an adequate supply, if not even the States 
can be trusted in producing a potent serum, ii spurious serum such as 
is being produced proves ineffective, and if potent serum can not be 
obtained even by the department to carry on the proposed investi- 
gations and demonstrations, much less by the hundreds of thousands 
of farmers suffering a loss annually from fifty to a hundred million 
dollars, there can be no question but that Congress should heed the 
suggestion — that is, to provide for adequate laboratory facilities to 
enable the department to produce the serum, at least to supply 
enough for its own use. In my opinion, a provision should be inserted 
in the bill providing that $300,000 of the sum so appropriated shall 
be set aside and used for the production, sale, and distribution, at 
the approximate cost of production, of antihog-cholera serum and 
thus enable the department to prepare the serum, not only for its 
own use but for use of others in preventing and curing the disease. 

One objection raised to the manufacture, sale, and distribution of 
the serum by the Government is that the Government should not 
engage in business enterprises in competition with private business 
enterprises. Now that the Government for years has grown, pur- 
chased, and distributed in the aggregate millions of dollars worth of 
vegetable and. flower seeds, plants, and shrubbery, operating the 
biggest printing plant in the world, operating thousands of postal 
savings banks, and about to operate eight or twelve Federal reserve 
banks, the President having recommended the building of railroads 
in Alaska, and. the House about to pass a bill already passed by the 
Senate authorizing its construction, and already operating railroads 
in Panama, and a line of boats between Colon and New York, it 
would seem that the objection to setting aside a part of a $500,000 
appropriation for the production, sale, and distribution of an article 
to meet an emergency of such importance was not well taken. While 



HOG CHOLEEA. 11 

I am opposed to Government ownership and operation in general, 
yet if necessary to meet an emergency such as we are confronted 
with in this instance, it would seem advisable as it appears the only 
course open to bring about results desired. A situation has been 
created, the department has prescribed the cure, but one that can 
not be made available except through the States and Federal Govern- 
ment. The testimony is that some 30 States and 75 or 80 private 
concerns are manufacturing the serum, but not all up to the stand- 
ard. Not even the States can be trusted. 

It is proposed that a more rigid and effective inspection should be 
provided; if so, it would insure the production of potent serum. I 
can not believe that a sane business man will invest his capital, manu- 
facture and sell an article in competition with States subsidized to 
the extent of $100,000 annually, selling its products at cost. If not, 
it goes without saying that when the proposed inspection is enforced 
and the manufacturers are compelled to manufacture serum up to 
the standard, none whatever will be manufactured by private con- 
cerns and the production of the serum will be confined to the States 
and Federal Government. The testimony is that the State of Ohio, 
with its hundred-thousand-dollar laboratory, the largest, will be able 
to take care of about one-fifth of the work in the State, other States 
with smaller appropriations and less facilities, many without any 
appropriations or facilities, will, under the conditions, be without 
aid save per chance the State might induce the department to coop- 
erate with it in one of its counties. Applying it to my own State 
with 99 counties, which, according to reports received and compiled 
by the agricultural extension department of the Iowa State College, 
shows that farmers in the 99 counties of Iowa through the ravages 
of hog cholera during the year 1913 lost 2,827,907 hogs, valued at 
$28,278,070. Hogs marketed at a sacrifice due to cholera scare, 
2,470,493, at a loss of $4,940,986. Loss to cattle feeders, due to 
shortage of hogs, $500,000. A total loss to farmers of $33,720,056. 
According to this statement my own county (Worth) lost 20,875, or 
46 per cent of the hogs in the county. Another county in the district 
(Floyd) lost 28,456. or 46 per cent." Cerro Gorda County, 28,662, or 
45 per cent. In the 10 counties in my district there were 116,111 
hogs lost. In other districts: Sac County, 71,811, or 70 per cent; 
Story County, 30,616, or 38 per cent; Tama County, 31,608, or 28 
per cent; Washington County, 25,302, or 25 per cent; Winnebago 
County, 18,551, or 44 per cent; Blackhawk County, 30,154, or 28 
per cent; Boone County, 28,257, or 43 per cent; Buena Vista County, 
60,147, or 66 per cent; Sioux County, 103,765, or 71 per cent. 

This, I believe, is sufficient to illustrate what we may expect from 
the proposed legislation and under the proposed plan by the de- 
partment. See Dr. Galloway's statement, page 4, hearings before 
subcommittee, February 4, 1914: 

Dr. Galloway. Yes. I am developing this discussion to the end of eliminating 
everything on hog cholera from the regular appropriation bill and substituting an 
emergency measure. To carry out the work of inspection would require, as I indi- 
cated, approximately $50,000.' That will enable us to put these men in the estab- 
lishments. 

Page 5 : 

The Chairman. Now, Doctor, let me see if I get your idea. First of all you would 
use $300,000 in the matter of demonstration, to the satisfaction of the department, in the 
direction of eradicating hog cholera from a definite area? 



12 HOG CHOLEEA. 

Dr. Galloway. Yes v sir. 

The Chairman. You would use $50,000 in placing inspectors in serum plants to see 
that proper serum was being manufactured? 

Dr. Galloway. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And, in the third place, you would use the balance — S 150,000 — in 
educational work among the people in cooperation with the States? 

Dr. Galloway. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. The States furnishing the serum? 

Dr. Galloway. Yes; the States furnishing the serum. 

Mr. Lee. The States or the individuals? 

Dr. Galloway. The States would furnish the serum. 

Here we have the plan submitted by Dr. Galloway, the acting Sec- 
retary of Agriculture, and as such the highest authority, and of course 
the plan will be carried out unless specific directions are given. Dr. 
Galloway states, page 4 : 

We have come to the conclusion that we could carry this work on with our existing 
serum plant in about 15 counties. If it is to be extended in additional counties, then 
we would of necessity have to enlarge our serum plant, and that would increase the 
amount to that extent. To do the work we require about $300,000. 

On the other hand, Dr. Dorset states, page 20: 

Now, the work of the year has been located in four States — in Montgomery County, 
Ind.; in Pettis County, Mo.; Dallas County, Iowa; and in Gage and Johnson Counties, 
Nebr. The work in Nebraska so far has amounted to little except as a preliminary 
to real work which we hope to begin in the spring. We put one inspector in Nebraska 
about the 1st of November, I believe, and that is all we have done in Nebraska. 

Page 25: 

Dr. Dorset. No. We have used in Dallas and Montgomery Counties serum which 
we have made. In Missouri we have used a serum made by the University of Mis- 
souri, because we were unable to make enough serum to take care of Pettis County, 
as we found after the work was started. 

Dr. Melvin states, page 31 : 

As it is, our original plant was a very small affair, put up of matched boards. The 
floor space was not half the size of this room. To provide for this work we bought 
some of these portable tin houses, put them up, and made them into laboratories. 
We are doing efficient work there, but there is nothing permanent to it; and it is not 
even on our own ground, but on leased ground. We had to put up temporary build- 
ings; and, if we are to continue in this work for ten or a dozen years, which seems 
probable, I think we should first start with a proper equipment and be prepared to 
show these manufacturers, and the State people as well, what, in our opinion, is a 
proper laboratory. 

Mr. Taylor. Why could you not take $100,000 to perfect your plant, etc., and 
$75,000 to keep your men that you now have? Why would not that cover it? 

Dr. Melvin. That would hardly be in proportion. I think if we had a plant for 
$100,000, the other ought to be larger — a couple of hundred thousand dollars. 

Whose statement will we accept? Dr. Galloway's, who state's we 
eotdd carry the work on with our existing serum plant in about 15 
countis; or Dr. Dorset's, who states that the work of the current 
year was confined to 4 counties, that the work in 1 amounted to 
little — or simply to puting an inspector in the county on November 1 — 
that the actual work of demonstration and eradication was confined 
to 3 counties, and that they were unable to make enough serum to 
take care 1 of all 3 of the counties, but were obliged to purchase serum 
for 1. The reason given for purchasing the serum is that the $75,000 
appropriation for last year was not available until the 1st of July, 
but Dr. Melvin states, that it takes 10 days to prepare the serum 
and ordinarily they would use it right away, and Dr. Dorset states, 
page 20: 

The plan of work was to secure cooperation of the State authorities, first of the State 
college and through theHStatecoHege the extension department of the college, then the 



HOG CHOLERA. 13 

cooperation of the live-stock sanitary board or the State veterinarian. Our bureau was 
to place men in a certain area, which was to be selected, in which we would endeavor 
to demonstrate methods of eradicating hog cholera. The work then was planned 
along three lines: First, the education and the organization of the farmers in the 
district selected, to be carried out primarily by the State college. The second was 
to involve sanitation and restrictive regulations, to be enforced by the State veter- 
inarian. The third part of our work was to be che active supervision by the Bureau 
of Animal Industry and the inoculation of diseased herds and exposed herds with the 
antihog-cholera serum. 

We have had a greart deal of trouble getting these organizations started. Difficulties 
which the State collect's and others have not been able to overcome have made the 
organization very slow, and we have found ourselves, three or four months after the 
work began, without a suitable organization for carrying it on. 

Page 6 : 

Mr. Hauoen. First you draw the blood from a cholera hog? 

Dr. Melvin. You gel your immune hog first, then you get your blood from a hog 
that is sick with cholera and inject a certain amount of that into this immune hog and 

f)roduce what we call a hyperimmune, and then from him draw the blood and use that 
)lood in this immunizing work. 

Mr. Haugen. That is mixed, I undeistand, with carbolic acid? 

Dr. Melvin. That is merely to preserve it. 

Mr. Haugen. How long would that take? 

Dr. Melvin. That v,;ould take, I think, about 10 days. 

Mr. Haugen. Then you test it by applying it on a hog? 

Dr. Melvin. Ordinarily they would use that right away. They do not test all of 
these different batches. Some do. Some take the blood and serum from several hogs 
and then try it to see whether it does protect or not. They inoculate a hog or two hogs 
with this diseased blood, and then also with the serum, to see whether it does render 
them immune or not. That is the proper way to do it. 

According to the statement of Dr. Dorset, in charge of the work, it 
took months to secure cooperation with the State. He states that 
they had a great deal of trouble in getting the organizations started. 
The appropriation for the organization and the production of the se- 
rum was made available on the same date and after the money was 
available for the serum, months passed before it could be applied. 
It would seem that a board shack, half the size of the committee 
room and a few small portable tin nouses could be put together in a 
few months, allowing 10 days and even six weeks for the manufacture 
of the serum by a great department with thousands of employees and 
$75,000 available. If so, the reason given can not be accepted; but 
be that as it ma}^, the fact is that Dr. Galloway, whose word is prop- 
erly law in the department in this instance, contends that $300,000 
or $20,000 shall be allotted for each of 15 counties for work identi- 
cally with that carried on in four counties last year; that the pro- 
posed work can be carried on in 15 counties with its existing serum 
plant, which Dr. Melvin and Dr. Dorset, in charge of the work, con- 
tend proved inadequate to provide serum for use in the four counties 
for carrying on work identical to that which it is proposed to do in 
15 counties now. 

I nder the proposed plan, the 15 counties to be selected will 
receive aid to the extent of $20,000, or 15 out of the 2,500 counties 
will be partly provided for and the balance, 2,485, must go without. 
As, for instance, Iowa was fortunate enough to receive the aid of one 
of the allotments for the current year for Dallus County. According 
to the report, 15,954, or 17 percent, of the hogs in that county died. 
Dr. Dorset's statement is that only 9,182, or 7.1 per cent, died. 
(See p. 24.) The contention is that a large number of hogs were 
saved in Dallas County. Undoubtedly that is true; but while Dallas 
County was benefited, the other 98 counties were left to take care 



14 HOG CHOLERA. 

of themselves, and lost more than 2.800,000 hogs. In other words 
the other counties helped to pay for the serum and expenses con- 
nected with the demonstration in Dallas County and were left to 
bury their own hogs. On the other hand, had the money allotted 
to Dallas County been used for the production, sale, and distribu- 
tion of potent serum throughout the whole State, undoubtedly a 
large number of the 2,800,000 hogs that died in the other counties 
would have been saved. Besides, it must be obvious to all that when 
Iowa, the greatest of all hog-raising States, with a Government 
plant maintained in the State, with liberal annual appropriations 
made for the production of the serum, is not able to supply the 
demand, but loses through the ravages of hog cholera more than 
$33,030,000 in a single year, that other States with less facilities to 
combat the ravages of hog cholera are absolutely powerless in 
supplying the demand for the serum. 

If so, if private concerns arc not likely to supply the demand, and 
if potent serum is the only effective remedy found and has merit and 
will when applied cure or prevent cholera, then it is obviously neces- 
sary to make at least a part of the appropriation available for the 
production, sale, and distribution of a potent serum. Under the 
circumstances the department should prepare and keep on hand 
serum, if not enough to supply the demand, at least to do so as far 
as possible, to supply emergencies in States unable to supply the 
demand in the State. If $300,000 is set aside for that purpose as a 
working capital it will enable the department to purchase or manufac- 
ture serum for sale at its approximate cost. From time to time as the 
supply exhausts itself the money would be coming in in proportion to 
the amount disposed of and made available for the purchase or man- 
ufacture of a new supply. Most likely it will prove inadequate to meet 
all emergencies that may arise, but that is no reason for not provid- 
ing for a part of what is needed. The $300,000 will supply a large 
number and will be of inestimable value in saving millions of hogs. 

It is contended that the language in the bill will give the depart- 
ment authority to manufacture an 1 distribute the serum. S. 3439 — 
that is, the proposed bill — appropriates the sum of $500,000 for the 
purpose of the investigation, treatment, and eradication of hog cholera, 
and for carrying on examinations and inspections authorized in reg- 
ulating the preparation of the serum. Granting that it gives author- 
ity, it will be ineffectual, inasmuch as the department has clearly 
indicated what it proposes to do with the proposed appropriation, and 
that is to continue doing what it is now doing — to allot $300,000, or 
$20,000 to each of the 15 counties to be selected, $50,000 for inspec- 
tion, and the balance, $150,000, for demonstration, including the 
expenses in Washington. That is the present plan suggested by Dr. 
Galloway, Acting Secretary of the department, and if approved of by 
passing S. 3439, as it is propose 1 to do, it will of course have to be 
carried through, and I take it that for that reason the language sub- 
mitte 1 in the Book of J stimates, page 18, which provides that part 
of the appropriation asked for may be used for the construction and 
equipment of an antihog-cholera serum plant was not included in the 
bill. Hence the department will have $500,000 to use, $50,000 for 
inspection of plants not likely to come into existence and $300,000 
to demonstrate the value of a serum not available even for the use 
of demonstration. 

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